Anyway, the rest of the night was confusing because we were moving about.

Aku dan Vern naik for dinner at Madam Kwan's (thanks for dinner to Tim and Samantha of Nuffnang). Kak Red balik dulu while the rest of the entourage gi Chilli's, couldn't get a place, then ke Sundanese where we joined them after we finished.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Surfed most of the day just to keep track of what's going on. Nak jadik techie geek sat. Any of you hear about Microsoft Surface soming out soon? Awesome! Three days to go. For those of you yang tatau...this is what the Surface is.

What is Microsoft Surface?

Microsoft Surface™, the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft Corp., turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. The product provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects.

Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that's easy for individuals or small groups to interact with in a way that feels familiar, just like in the real world. In essence, it's a surface that comes to life for exploring, learning, sharing, creating, buying and much more. Soon to be available in restaurants, hotels, retail establishments and public entertainment venues, this experience will transform the way people shop, dine, entertain and live.

How does Surface work?

At a high level, Surface uses cameras to sense objects, hand gestures and touch. This user input is then processed and the result is displayed on the surface using rear projection.

What is surface computing?

Surface computing is a new way of working with computers that moves beyond the traditional mouse-and-keyboard experience. It is a natural user interface that allows people to interact with digital content the same way they have interacted with everyday items such as photos, paintbrushes and music their entire life: with their hands, with gestures and by putting real-world objects on the surface. Surface computing opens up a whole new category of products for users to interact with.

What are the key attributes of surface computing?

Surface computing has four key attributes:

Direct interaction. Users can actually "grab" digital information with their hands and interact with content by touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.

Multi-touch contact. Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger, as with a typical touch screen, but up to dozens and dozens of items at once.Multi-user experience. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.

Object recognition. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content.

Tapi kalao malas nak baca ke nak main click ke mana mana, check out these videos to get an idea of what Surface is. I definitely want one of these!!! Too bad they cost a bomb, will only be available later this year, and will probably never make this part of the world even if you could afford them.

Check out the first video for the explaination of what Surface it (worth a watch!) and the second a full explanation of the technology behind Surface.

Matilah...bak seketol je, so technically my contact with the world is not totally cut off, tuh pun bak family emergency number jer so hanya kuarga leh call.

Decided to go for the pre-launch shows of Citrawarna mana si Nikki perform.

Lagikpon it's been some time since I last drove to Putrajaya, so aku pon decided to join a scenic drive after meeting Vern up kat Plaza Alam Sentral where both Nikki dan Yanie ada show. Azmi pon ada sekali, so pas abih je, I led the way ke Putrajaya.The show was at Precint 3, so it wasn't too hard to get to the venue which was near the Palace of Justice. Sempat ler amik pic kat suspended bridge yang ala ala jambatan Pulau Pinang tuh.

Still, thought it was a wonderful day, and the skywards angle I had to take, sebab tengah driving, made for a freaking good picture, so there!

Sampai je, we circled around looking for where to park. Actually since there were three stages, we didn't know exactly where to go... so circles around like vultures around a carcass (keji tak metaphor aku?)

Some smart ass prick forgot to throw in road signs, becaus they probably thought people could telepathically find their way kot... so it was a stinking waste of time before we finally settled on where we thought the stage actually was.

The next problem we had was parking, so again one more problem. Nak carik spot mana parking da reserved.

Still, found out had to walk, as Yanie needed to go potty and we found out there were n accesible toilets for a very, very long way.

In the end found some portable potties, about few hundred metres away, not too far from where we had parked our cars. Ni pic Yanie posing with the only accesible portable potties within a radius of at least 2km.

Yes, we can see how relieved Yanie was in discovering there were loos about that could be used.

Never mind the stench that was building up.

Back at the site, the show began shortly with Rizal.

Mmmm...memang meletop la. Beribu biru orang moncol... sayangnya semua orang bunian!!!Yerlah...kalao hotspot one we found out later packed sebab at the start of the road, and the main stage takyah cita...hotspot two ni kat ujung dunia so no one about!

The maximum number of people there tak cecah 100 pon. Sodih!!!

And by estimate, they would have spent a total of RM50,000 for the whole set-up of hotspot two.

So why bother? Dua pentas, one main and one side show dah ler. Ni nak bebanyak nak abihkan duit... I mean, put our tax Ringgit to such good use. Sheesh!

We finally finished the show, said goodbye to everyone and gerak.We left before they actually launched Citrawarna... thank goodness sebab tak larat tengok memacam costume ala colour blind assembled by the various kebudayaan bodies from different states scheduled to perform.

Honestly...can you imagine hues of red, yellow, blue and green of the fluorescent variety all mushed together to come up with a supposed traditional look? If you don't have that active an imagination, turn on RTM and you get what I'm trying to describe.

Blogging used to offer me relief, but sometimes I just felt that it became a responsibility yang kekadang tak larat pon nak keep on and on doing, especially time kesibukan yang amat nih.

Still, part of my strength I get is from many of you ot there in the virtual world, who have become my friends online, and in the flesh, and if my little notes everyday can help cheer you up, as how many have cheered me up through the darkest hours, then maybe it's that little bit I can do to thank you guys for being there. And that comes from the bottom of my heart ok.

So experiement ari ni bermula. What you're reading now, and the pictures attached have all been drafted, to be published only a week from now. Kira bermula entry ni, until Jumaat depan, semua backdated jer ler. So jangan tekejut kalao a week from this date, masuk je berlambak entry. Heh...saja je...

Besides, post Akademi Fantasia, aku nak gak tengok berapa ramai loyal readers who are still with me. I know most of you still are, so thank you...again.

Keep reading and I'll keep writing. Hugs to all of you - and see you in real time dalam seminggu.

Meanwhile, I leave you with my original series of the 'perosak selera' variety. This is the third in the series I think, dan aku rasa, memang nasib aku ler, tiap kali aku nak makan kat memana, terserempak bangsa seluar terlondeh ngan suar dalam burok ataupon cam kes kat bawah nih....memang it's a curse.

Oh well...at least you guys get to laugh at my pain.

Note : To owner of that butt crack, please - buy some underwear or at least better fitting pants so that the world does not need to see your icky 'cleavage'.

I mean, everything about this movie is just so right. I've been singing that bleeding eerie pirates song since. Am I mad? Well, put it this way. I've watched it twice at the cinema since it premiered worldwide yesterday. Of course I mentioned I got a chance for the snea preview courtesy of Channel [V] yesterday, but got to watch it again yesterday courtesy of the lovely guys at Nuffnang, who held what is possibly the biggest blogger gathering in Malaysia earlier tonight.

Got to meet several bloggers or catch them in the flesh, yang memang the biggest in Malaysia.

It was kind of fun, though I suppose even though I suppose the biggest entertainment bloggers ke haper pon, cam segan wat kali pertama awed by the presence of such great names.

Aku kira memang ah an honour to be seated with such people yang respected for their alternative media works. Hope that there is a possibility to further mingle with these people so can cungkil sikit what they think and how they think so thatcan better myself and my style of blogging.

The event brought together over 200 bloggers (and their respective wives, dates, and significant others of varying status) which were as diverse as the blogs themselves, and it was heartening to see that many people believing in the medium of expression which has been so underrated by many.

The ambience was great, even though I had already watched the movie I was dead excited to see it again. Everyone was just chattering away, apart from us (well, SOME of us decided to do it during the movie didn't we?), and it was obvious this sort of events should be more emulated in the future by pihak yang berkenaan tuk tujuan promosi.

Kan rugi kalao tak wat camni... it realy does go a long way in making people excited about a film, which I might add, no amount of money, or corporate aid can get.

Oh well... people never seem to grasp the concept of moving on with the times, I suppose.There was a salty air about.... (for lack of a better word apart from stench) about...to actually make the whole venue more in line with the theme.

After much investigation (beriya jer) still couldn't really discover the source of the offensive smell.Though I suppose the safest conclusion was the fact that Hall 9 where we were in was located too close to ye olde port-a-privy - that's toilet, thus allowing this seeping smell of erm...something not nice or other. Thanks heavens for perfume.

Yes, cheap scents and the aroma of human waste... how more piratey can you get?

It was a laugh however sebab biasa kan screening camnih takleh la bak laptop ke camera ke mobile phone yang ada recording device, but hey...does that all apply when you have a preview for bloggers?

So people were happily snapping away here and there, while I cursed leaving my sunglasses in the car as I kept getting blinded by flashing cameras in the dark hall.

The intro was my favourite scene with the mass hanging, and how all those convicted began singing the pirates sang by that little innocent boy.

Apart from that, my list is haywire, with splendid one-liners and comic relief inserted between the ass-kicking action and awesome effects work.

Aduh...memang set ah aku nak ke panggung tengok one more time (what's so weird ah? I saw The Producers thrice ok!)

Apapon for those yang lom tengok, this is THE movie of the year to watch (apart from Transformers!). Memang besh gila, and for a butt numbing almost three hours duration, worth every bloody Sen)

Watching it a second time allowed me to notice more details which added a kick to the storyline like how the lead in on who Calypso really was and her significance from the start, which I should have realised early on in Dead Man's Chest.

But the only 'flaw' if you must in the movie, aku masih tak paham how Tia Dalma aka Calypso, featured in the movie in the end. I mean they went all they way to rescue Jack from Davy Jones' Locker and then to congregate the Brethren to release her, but when they did, she just went *poof* into thin air (ok...I know...I know...the crabs)

What I mean is, she never had a significant bearing on the end, which even though was a visual spectacle, it didn't really provide a punch, as it was almost predictable that William was...oh well.. kang cakap...spoiler lak bagi yang takleh figure it out.Still, like I said, it was big fun alright.

So maybe this weekend, kalao sempat I'll watch it again, then catch Shrek 3 cause that kind of looks like fun too.

Oh, by the way, off topic sikit, for Transformers freaks, kat KLCC TGV da pamerkan da the standee thingamajig promoting the movie, which means we will be watching it before basi.

I half expected it not to make our shores in time sebab ingatkan people kat sini tamau bak ke haper.

To put it simply, if you watched the two previous movies, you'll love this one cause it is the best f the three. Who says sequels are never better than the original.

Of course characters like Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), William Turner (Orlando Bloom) are back along with Elizabeth Swann (Kiera Knightley).

In fact the whole lovable cast is back, even the monkey and the parrot!

If you didn't watch the first two, fret not, as you'll probably understand the movie still, though you'll probably be irritating everyone else asking your friend who watched it what's this and that lah.

Erm...probably not as irritating as the idiot though sitting behind me who kept kicking and nudging my seat! Yes you...blog about it if you want...cause you were such a pain in the rear (literally!)

Erm...eh..ok la..ni some stills from the movie. Chow Yuen Fatt meanwhile is in it as Captain Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore. Leh

If you want to catch a little of the movie before you actually go watch it. Here's the trailer and four little featurettes to catch a little bit of the movie for you to decide if you want to catch it (but do, do, do!!!)

By the way, just to hype up the Transformers movie and get everyone excited like me, sapa yang ingat the cartoon anyway, here are the a few of the trailers available online promoting the movie's release on the 4th of July (dunno la sini tunjuk tarikh berapa).Whatever it is...I wanna watch it!

By the way, which reminds me, to Ieja of KSNM-ZA8FC, my deepest condolences girl, for the loss of your mom that passes away a few days ago. Many hugs to you girl... I can only imagine your pain.

Apapon, remember your family here for you ok. Zahid pon kem pesan sebab aku ada SMS dia everytime ko mesej aku, so I can keep him updated just in case. So he does feel it too. Apapon, many, many, many, many hugs to you from all your brothers and sisters in KSNM-ZA8FC ok. Love you babe...

So I excused myself, and rushed back to the office and picked up Farihad.

Sped to KLCC and by the time naik ke TGV, just nice. 8.15pm. Almost three hours later, staggered out of the panggung with my butt sore as hell. It was a fantastic movie!

Memang amazing la! takyah synopsis haper...it's basically a continuation of the Pirates series, so if you've watched the other two, you know where they're heading with this one.

Tapi this one ties up a lot of loose ends in the storyline of the first two, and complete the trilogy. Sapa yang tak penah tengok pon akan seronok even though ada ler some parts korang akan blur sebab tak paham jalan cita.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Darn. You know age is catching up with you when your miminum requirement for sleep masih tak cukup.

Started the day early. As early as 8pm the night before actually when I stayed back at the office nak complete a ton of work, so I wouldn't have keja yang lom siap hanging over me for the rest of the week.

When I procrastinate, I get stressed, and I don't need any of that for now, thank you. It's still a busy period, walalopon Akademi Fantasia da melabuhkan tirai.Completed everything by noon yesterday, ingat nak balik rumah Bangsar, mandi dan tidur. Got a call from Anita. Alamak...lupa lak pelancaran Diva was scheduled at 7pm.

Gi belah Berita Harian sat jenguk kengkawan, and found out Farihad and Zul were on the way to Astro sebab ada interview.

So aku popped back the Bangsar home, mandi, dan terus ke Astro. Jumpa Jolyn and Michelle to settle the Astro subscription form to get the Astromax decoder and then popped over for a smoke.

Made my way up to the studio after that to wait it out. Linda tengah bertugas on air sementara si Nila pon ada sebab baru complete work. Pak Tam, Man Maestro, add that with abang Badrul who played tour guide (get that tooth fixed!) and sultanmuzaffar, throw in Su photographer kami who appeared with Zul shortly, as well as myself, and the Era studio never looked smaller.

Take note that Christina Aguilera be performing in Singapore at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on June 30, 2007 as part of her Back to Basics 2007 World Tour which started in Manchester, Britain, on Nove 23, 2006.

Those who watch the show will get to see the beautiful choreography THE Jamie King (Madonna, Janet Jackson, Prince) and the beautiful costume designs of Roberto Cavalli, who will be the tour's exclusive costume designer.

The Back to Basics 2007 Tour is said to feature a unique stage design that will allow Christina's fans unprecedented access to the stage with unbelievable sight lines. With it featuring three distinct stage scenes, illuminated by more than 600 moving lights, and a state-of-the-art hydraulic system, it's going to be one helluva show!!!!!

Those interested nak gi,tickets cost S$348, S$228, S$188, S$148 and S$98wil have gone on sale as of yesterday.

For more information on ticket sales, please visit the SISTIC site. Please note that the ticket prices are non-inclusive of SISTIC booking fee.

The performance of Phantom of the Opera was just sad, I don't know sebab house system ker, ataopon apa, but maybe because of the acoustics everything just sounded horrible and I couldn't make out at all what they were singing. Heh...honestly. What as waste... and the costumes looked cam kedai sewa masquerade party. Cheap.

And cheap too indeed was the marching band which just looked damn ridiculous. And the cheerleaders too. Sad ler...was that a basket toss? I don't think so.

Heliza - Cinta Boneka (D-Va)Ok...she's back to being herself. I knew the song was the wrong choice from the start. Aku da agak mesti horror, and it was just that. Aku leh maapkan memacam tapi vocal dia, erm, just sounded like an amateurish karaoke outing.

Meleret, and she had a tendency to dip really low on the low notes yang irritating. It wasn't just the start and she didn't pick it up, unlike what Jee said.

Hattan kata dia improve confidence and all, but she never had a problem with that. Ogy said it too, which was weird.

Sayangnya...sampai time nih aku da rasa dia slip back to her old faults. I mean, honestly it wasn't that bad, but firstly it wasn't final material and secondly aku rasa dia masih lom break through her shell (erm...for lack of a better word) and tunjukkan kemampuan diri sebenar dia.A lot of potential, and yet, so deep inside.

Nak kapak pun kena ada the right approach ma. I think apart from teaching them the basics of techniques and all, patutnya meka ni diajar to be more vocally expressive and absorbent of other influences. After all, that's the difference between a singer and an artiste.

First things, first, the backing music for his song, was the only one so far yang sedap. Lain semua cam erm... tamau la cakap ringtone. Tapi decide la sendiri.

Erm...tul kata seseorang tuh. So it's not just me, kenapa every song kena ada guitar solo. So the 80an arrangement segala.Blast from the past!

Walaopon lagu ni pon ala rock kapak, at least masa chorus, Ebi brought out a vibe that played true tribute to the kapak genre (does it count as a genre of its own? never thought of it as an offshoot of rock)

It wasn't perfect, but I think it deserved a little more credit than that even though it wasn't fantastic.

Still better than Heliza though, and aku pelik kenapa meka leh bagik si Heliza tiga lampu biru and only one to Ebi.

And should I go on about the curtains she was wearing? The top bit spoilt it for me and ended up making the lower half which was actually kind of nice, draped all wrong. Don't know...just didn't work. Colour was nic ethough (desperate carik benda nak puji pasal wardrobe nih sebab pujian asik nan ado jer)

But suara dia memang besh, dan bukan je dibantu lagu ok, even though it's the least busuk so far of the original compositions.Tak paham ler...

They were actually a bad distraction and not complimenting her performance at all.

Ok...of all the songs yang original compositions, I think this is the best. The best of the worst, but the best. It was just infectious and catchy and I suppose that it stuck in my mind, for want of a btter tune though.

I found myself grooving to it. Arrangement was weird though, tapi Candy managed to rock the house. I thought she carried herself like a pro.

Oh well, people find it hard to appreciate her, and that's going to be her demon for sure when she comes into the real world ni.Still, her talents are undeniable, and at least that's a good foundation. Still.. she has a long way to go in terms of getting close to completing the package.

Ebi - Farhana (Jinbara)I never really likes this song and I probably never will, but Ebi did quite good!

Not as good as the girls, but still, he did good!

His vocals were rocking all right, and it just worked, though I don't know. So many distractions to overcome, with the stupid backing dancers it was just silly!

And the clothes just looked cheap.I said wedding singer because for some reason the top (maybe the illusion of the shirt too) made it look like a bad take of a cheap ass tux.

Apapon, you gotta give him credit sebab dia mampu maintain vocal dia despite melonjat sana sini. I didn't like it, but it worked, so there. Erm.. pretty much like Kasih Laila, so questionable ler soal showmanship dia punya originality. I mean you can only do that so many times before it becomes a tired gimmick.

Satu lampu biru je? Erm.. to be fair he deserved more la. Hish... oh well. Go with the flow ler.

Mila - Cinta Pura Pura (Ezlynn)Was it just me? Kenapa I'm so reminded of the Swamp Thing ngan baju ni? She looks so so draped in seaweeds. Like Ted said, it was so Pirates of the Carribean.

Afiq - Keabadiaan Cinta (Anuar Zain)He wasn't too bad but I didn't get it so much. Still, promising. Needs quite some amount of work though on stabilising his vocals.

Fatin - Aku Cinta Padamu (Sheila Majid)Honestly, she's one of the only ones I have no regrets about her not being in. But I have to say, she sounds better than masa dalam Akademi. Strange kan how some things work.

Farha - PerpisahanAnother one who might have gone out too early, quite some potential but voted off. Could have better with some proper training, but not convincing enough for me for th night, especially bab stage showmanship dia, asik tengok lantai kiri dan kanan with zero contact with the audience.

Noni - Semoga Abadi (Misha Omar)Ok...she was the only one I felt was totally karaoke. She didn't bring anything, and biasa biasa saja.Still, takde la azab ke apa. Cuma no vibes off her.

Dekna - Pelangi PetangIs it just me or does she look like she's been crying. Tapi sedap tol. Ok...there were parts she was off...aku rasa dia ada something on her mind, because the tears came too naturally for me.

Dekna ni sayang je...

Kalao dia bersungguh awal sikit dalam competition, she could have stayed on longer and possibly ended up a lot better.

Aizat - Yesterday (The Beatles)He did ok, though perhaps I expected him to totally take this song. Not too shabby but he needs to work on his delivery and to control his body language on stage to make it more genuine.

Dafi - Mungkin Nanti (Peterpan)Erm...timing dia skip here and there masa verse, and erm, just not there. With some work...erm...and good songs...mana tau lah...

Shawal - Kau Ilhamku (Man Bai)Another wasted talent. I maintain he should be in the finals. Tapi takpe. Sora dia sedap, rezeki dia kalao ada, ada lah. He is so promising.But he also needs quite some work as potential alone tak cukup menjaminkan apa apa.

Note again : Erm..what's with the Auld Lang Syne on bagpipes? I mean it was nice and all but honestly, tak yah la da. Erm.. Farah looks..erm..different. And Reza just spoilt it with the cuecards. Aznil honestly deserves it sebab he has put a lot into the show, but erm... why make it sound like an obituary?

Despite the TOTAL TACKINESS of it all, I'm not ashamed to say nak gak nitis airmata aku at this point. I mean, cakap saja pasal Aznil, dia manage to hidupkan the show, and no host has brought the life into a programme like him.